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Shiplist – Strong to weak

(Comment on the data collection and sorting method at the end of the table.)

Starships in order of their firepower, with all ships being equipped with maximum weaponry and fighting for their original race. All ships marked with an asterisk * are only available in campaign games.

The above list shows a rough view over the battle performance of the Planets starships. Those were simulated using the maximum firepower that is possible for each hull type and the race that builds those ships. All ships will have a higher chance to beat most other ships below. The chances vary from line to line and can go from 100% / 0% down to 50% / 50% ratios. Just because a ship is above another one does not mean that it will be win undamaged with a 100% chance, it just has a greater chance of winning than the one(s) below. There are specialists in this list that are able to beat singular ships further up or are especially vulnerable to certain lower ship hulls.

Shown are the actual battle performances of 1:1 ship fights when belonging to their origin race – depending on the owner race all hulls can vary in their battle strength. Different weapon systems or settings will also produce different results, as well as the left- / right side advantages. Please note that the performance of battlegroups is not reflected here, nor is there any credit given to the overall performance on the battlefield. Minelayers, factory ships or freighters for example will rarely step into a fight but can be a deciding element.

Methods:

All ships were simulated with the maximum possible weaponry installed.

All ships were simulated as if they were belonging to their origin race. Federation, Lizard and Fascist combat boni were used.

All ships must be able to beat the ship(s) directly below them with at least 50% probability and as many ships as possible below them.

Simulation:

All ships were simulated in rows of minimum 10.000 simulations using PCC2, settings at: NuHost, random friendly code, random sides. Only the wins and losses were used and put into relation to another, rounded to 5% chance steps. Stalemates were not used for the data collection.

Sorting:

First the ships were sorted by hand, then simulated using the Nu Simulator.
In a third run ten ships above and below each ship were simulated in order to erase first sorting mistakes. In the following runs each ship was simulated vs. all other ships, using the simulation method above. Obvious wins and losses (if a ship won by 100% vs. 5-10 ships in a row, that were much lower in the list) were not simulated.

Results:

It was easier to sort this hitlist using the collected data than initially expected – most ships that will (most likely) beat the ship below also have a great chance of beating the rest of the ships further down in the list. Only very specific ships with an uncommon mass in relation to their firepower sometimes jump out, mostly ‘sideways’, as them being either over – or underpowered makes them specialists for certain situations. Examples for an underpowered ship are the Scorpius Class Light Carrier or the Merlin Class and Neutronic Refinery factory ships, while the Thor, Kittyhawk and Patriot Classes rather are overpowered in relation to their combat weight. Specialist ships often show an inconsistent battlepower in comparison the majority and can beat singular ships further up in the list, while being vulnerable to very specific ships further down as well.

The medium, light and very light carriers such as the Moscow Classes, the H-Ross, Valiant and Red Wind Class Carriers seemingly are a flying risk for both the owner and the enemy, as those cover a great range of ships up and (!) down while nearly never producing a sure shot – neither as predator nor as prey.
Torpedo ships tend to have a more distinct predator and prey field.

In the extreme groups A, F and G the results are more distinct from ship to ship than in the middle ranges. Ships in Groups C and D are very close to another in terms of battle performance, ships C46 to C56 often produce 50% / 50% results with only a few percent points in the statistical differences. In cases of a general stalemate i used the results further up and down to compare the overall result and sorted them accordingly. In case of an exact draw (Meteor / Cygnus Classes or Ruby / Cat’s Paw Classes for example) i put the ‘more useful’ ship on top.

About thin

Planets player since 1995 who started as a school kid with WinPlan and the Rebel Confederation. Based in Frankfurt, Germany, he makes his living as an architect and is a passionate Lizards player in the Planets universe. Thin has taken part in the first championship game ‘The Scorpius War’ on Planets.nu in which he finished ranking second.